The Cost of Worship

"Whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to Him who sits on the throne, who lives forever and ever, ¹⁰ the twenty-four elders fall down before Him who sits on the throne and worship Him who lives forever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying: ¹¹ "You are worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created."

Revelation 4:9-11

In a world preoccupied with acquiring, how thought provoking it is to fix our eyes on this heavenly scene of worship.  When the living creatures praise God who sits on the throne, the elders fall before Him and worship Him.  Their worship is not limited to words, but they cast their crowns before the throne of God.  These were crowns given them by God.  Crowns are valuable.  Even more importantly, they represent authority.  Usually tooled from precious metals and adorned with priceless jewels, it wouldn't be the sort of thing a person would think to throw.  Yet so great is the power, worthiness, and goodness of God that the only thing the elders could do was to cast their crowns at the feet of the One who lives forever and ever.

David said he would not offer the LORD what cost him nothing.  Worship for these men was costly, but no cost was too great when they perceived God's splendour, majesty, and favour.  Their riches and roles were laid before the throne of God, left at His feet as an offering of praise.  Worship is more than words, a song, or a body laid prostrate on the ground:  it is a cry of adoration and sacrifice unto God from the heart.  Worship is giving back to God all He has given us, counting all loss so He might be glorified.  It is the natural response of a regenerated soul of thanks and rejoicing, knowing we are unworthy even to speak the name of the living God, much less serve Him or be adopted into His family as children.

The casting of crowns points us to the One who is worthy of all praise:  Jesus Christ.  We should not praise the men who have sacrificed, but the One who deserves such an offering.  It is not what we bring in our hands before the throne, but the God who sits upon it both now and forever.  At the same time we do well to consider:  have I cast my crown before His throne?  Have I freely given back to God the most precious possessions and treasured aspects of my life?  Has my worship stopped short of such sacrifice because I count the gift more worthy than the Giver?

May our lives be a proclamation of the everlasting truth:  "You are worthy, O LORD, to receive glory and honour and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created."  God has given us new life through Christ.  We of all men ought to be most generous and thankful, especially concerning our Saviour.  Let us seek to offer a sacrifice of praise worthy of His greatness, not so the gift will be recognised by men, but that God will receive glory.